Abu Dhabi-
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk revealed part of what coach Jurgen Klopp said between the halves of the Villarreal match, in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, on Tuesday.
Liverpool faced the threat of exclusion from the tournament in the first half, as it was 0-2 behind in front of its host, who beat it in the first 45 minutes with a sweep.
However, the Reds recovered impressively to win 3-2, 5-2 on aggregate and book their place in the Champions League final scheduled for May 28.
Van Dijk said the second-half turn was triggered by Klopp’s half-time talk in the dressing room.
The Dutch defender told BT Sport: “Klopp told us: ‘Play football, play Liverpool’. He told us to play the way we’ve been playing basically all season.”
He continued, “We demanded that we get the ball and move a lot in the opponent’s penalty area and behind his lines, and that we also show our desire to reach the final.”
Klopp had spoken following the match regarding returning from a two-goal deficit, but he did not reveal exactly what he had said to his players.
The German coach said: “We knew that in the first half they were much better than us man to man, but we did not comment on the physical side in the break.”
He continued: “I cannot tell you exactly what I told the players. We talked regarding how to play football, move around and look for space.”
